early season gravel driveway methods

[bota4life]

First time I plowed my gravel driveway with my fel was last year. It was a mild winter so the gravel never really froze up. The few storms that did come through dumped about 10 inches each time. I found the best way for me was to curl the bucket back a little bit so the cutting edge doesn't dig in and float it along the driveway. It plowed down to the gravel and there wasn't much to cleanup in the spring time. Hopefully it's colder this year!

 

[Marveltone]

We drive on the first couple of inches to make a base. Once I'm reasonably certain the blower will not pick up too much gravel, I'll start blowing. Only problem with this method is so far, there hasn't been enough snow to warrant using the blower, so the the poor tractor is feeling neglected!

Joe

 

[dave1949]

I always pack down a base over my gravel. If first snow is 3" or less I just drive on it a lot and or back grade to pack it down for a base.
The most dreaded first fall is 8-10 ins of heavy wet snow on unfrozen ground as it is hard to leave a couple of inches but you need to get rid of most 'cause you cant drive thru it.
In fact even the tractor compresses it in clumps.
My solution is to blow it away with the blower about 2" high and then compact the remainder for a base.
And LOL, you then hope that there will be no sudden thaw as all you have is clumpy slush and pray that the temp don't take a sudden dive.
Ain't winter fun!

Sure is It helps if you can "think ahead" of the weather. Like if you have 2-3 inches of packed snow but know there is warm-up coming. It is best to get rid of that base at the right time. Or, if you have a wet snow and know it's going to get cold behind that, then get out and remove it before it turns into a chunk of ice. Easy to say for retired people, I know.

 

[gwiley]

I plow a few miles of gravel road here - some very steep grades 11-15% so I can't leave snow pack. We use crush 'n run (gravel with stone dust) so the road packs nicely. If I dont plow down to the gravel the thaw/freeze cycle makes the hills impassible to vehicles without chains.

 

[bellweather]

I have a 650' gravel driveway, fairly level, some sun mostly shade. I use a walk-behind snow blower with the skid shoes adjusted up high which leaves about 1-2" of snow behind. This gets packed down over time, then I lower the shoes accordingly. I also do periodic clean-up for smaller snow-falls with my front-loader in float mode (leading edge curled up). The driveway does get icy and when it does I use sand, especially near the house. When there is a thaw, it just gets messy. I do my best with the tools I have. I gave up having some yoyo plow the driveway years ago because of the amount of gravel that ended up on my lawn...it would take me the better part of a day to sort-of rake it all back onto the driveway. Plus the plow tends to scrape away the crown on the driveway. When the walk-behind blower finally gives up the ghost, I will replace it with a snow blower for the tractor.

 

[Looking4new]

The past two snowfalls we've had so far this winter I back dragged the laneway and around the buildings with the front mount blower. When I had a size-able pile of snow, then blew it into the field.
When the lane-way does get icy, I spread ashes from my wood stove on it. Takes the slip factor right out of the equation.

 

[IndyIan]

My driveway is all hill too, so I need to scrape down to bare gravel otherwise its a 1/4 mile walk in when we get a quick thaw and freeze... My local gravel seems to always have a bit of clay in it so once it freezes its practically concrete and doesn't move so I don't even have shoes on my rear blade.

 

[crazyal]

I wouldn't suggest packing down a layer of snow if you live on a hill. On flat ground you can get by if it get's a little icy but on not on the side of a hill.

Early season techniques include plowing in reverse so the plow edge can't dig in and going very slow and keeping the edge of the blade or snow blower just up off the gravel.

 

[wolfpack2]

I created a large turn around area at the end of my drive. I push/bucket all of the snow and snow/stone mix to this spot. Come spring, I use the loader and rear blade to re-distribute it back onto the drive. Makes the drive look fresh every year and keeps the weeds from taking over. Minimal stone in the lawn and a large spot to pile all of the snow during the winter has worked great for the last 10 years. I also have a 3” pipe on the blade which helps.

 

[NHbotanut]

I got a 6' piece of HDPE pipe with a wall thickness of 1\2". ran it thru the table saw and then hammered it onto the plow's cutting blade. Works great! No more digging up the driveway or lawn. Have had no problems plowing MIL's paved driveway either.

After 2 seasons, very little wear.